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发帖数: 21627 | 10 EAD cards for H4 visa holders: USCIS needs to give it to all of them
By Sujeet Rajan
It’s heartening that in all the imbroglio and limbo
over illegal immigration, the US government finally took action after years
to help legal immigrants, who form the real backbone of this country: it’s
done the right thing by granting work permits, EAD cards, to H4 visa holders
, beginning late summer of this year.Read the story on EAD cards to be
issued to H4 visa holders, effective May 26, 2015:
It’s apparent that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (
USCIS) know the value of extending these work permits to H4 visa holders.
Most of the H4 visa holders are educated, qualified and skilled workers who
have been languishing in this country without being allowed to work, for no
fault of theirs.Their only fault, or even negligence, as some may call it
harshly: left blossoming careers in their home country or aspirations for
higher studies, to get married to somebody settled in the US, who has a good
job, but doesn’t have a Green Card.Here’s what the Director of the USCIS
León Rodríguez acknowledged today about H4 visa holders: “Allowing the
spouses of these visa holders to legally work in the United States makes
perfect sense. It helps U.S. businesses keep their highly skilled workers by
increasing the chances these workers will choose to stay in this country
during the transition from temporary workers to permanent residents. It also
provides more economic stability and better quality of life for the
affected families.”The USCIS also made it clear that they very well know
the unfairness of it all over the years by not giving EAD cards to H4 visa
holders, and how much this act of giving the cards finally will help highly
skilled workers, on H-1B visas, and their families, who contribute a lot to
the US economy, and make it a dominant force globally:“DHS expects this
change will reduce the economic burdens and personal stresses H-1B
nonimmigrants and their families may experience during the transition from
nonimmigrant to lawful permanent resident status, and facilitate their
integration into American society. As such, the change should reduce certain
disincentives that currently lead H-1B nonimmigrants to abandon efforts to
remain in the United States while seeking lawful permanent residence, which
will minimize disruptions to U.S. businesses employing them. The change
should also support the U.S. economy because the contributions H-1B
nonimmigrants make to entrepreneurship and science help promote economic
growth and job creation. The rule also will bring U.S. immigration policies
more in line with those laws of other countries that compete to attract
similar highly skilled workers.”The question to be asked is why did it take
so long for the US government to do the right thing?But here’s the thing:
they have finally done it, and perhaps, this is just the catalyst that was
required for further proactive action this year, on the legal immigration
front, especially on removing the blockage for Green Cards for applicants
from India, who are in EB2 and EB3 status. That action, on removing the
country caps, should be the priority for advocates and activists of legal
immigration. If that happens, it would go a long way in fixing the broken
immigration system, on the legal immigration front.Also, it’s important
that the USCIS make further reforms and give EAD cards to all H4 visa
holders, and not just a select few. Right now as it stands, only spouses of
those H1B visa holders who have been here for more than six years and got
extensions to stay on and work legally, or those who are in advanced stage
of their Green Card applications, are eligible for work permits.But what
about those H4 visa holders who are new immigrants, are perhaps brilliant
engineers and software programmers, teachers and academics, crave to get
back to work? It’s now doubly unfair that they have to see a friend of
their, also on a H4 visa, going to work, while they beat their heads against
the wall.The USCIS needs to understand that this is a human rights issue,
that by denying work permits to certain H4 visa holders, it creates
tremendous turbulence in their lives, wrecks marriages sometimes, puts
financial pressure on families as they grow and extend their roots in the
country.And often times, by making H4 visa holders wait for six years or
more to receive their Green Cards, they often lose their edge in the
professions they had once worked in, or aspired to join. They need training
to get back into cutting-edge industries, may not be prepared for the big
day. Some may not be competent anymore, so the work permits may be useless.
At least, the USCIS needs to look into giving work permits to H4 visa
holders who have been in the country for at least three years. That way, it
would give new immigrants on that visa, a chance to even go in for some
advanced studies in US colleges and universities to hone their skills and
get further academic skills under their belt. They would be assured that
they are preparing for a career down the road.But kudos to the USCIS for
finally taking a big, positive step in the right direction. Hope they keep
it going.And hope legislators on Capitol Hill see this, and take action to
make further inroads to help skilled immigrants. After all, it helps the US
economy too.
【在 s******y 的大作中提到】
: 麻痹，刚听着三娘和三哥弹冠相庆谈论这事儿
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